Lawang Sewu means A Thousand Doors. Its apparently a real run-down colonial period building situated in Semarang, Jawa. Built by the dutch is first served as an administrative building, but when the Japanese came they changed the place into a concentration camp. Lot of bad memories connected to this place and many state its haunted.
Great location for a horror movie. But location isn't enough. Basically its a teeny ghost movie, one of many that have been jumping up in throves in Indonesia. Plot? A group of kids enter a house and get killed of one by one...
Unfortunately it seems most Indonesian films are nowhere as professionally done as films like The Eye or Shutter and if this film is anything to go by then the industry has a lot to learn.
Acting is terrible and the direction makes the movie look like an indie amateur film, that people post on Youtube from time to time. The make-up artists and FX crew are the only ones that should receive any praise, as the miniscule budget didn't.
Seeing how much money horror films are bringing in Indonesia it really is a shame that professionalism doesn't go hand in hand. Some films show that potential is there. For a excellent Indonesian horror movie recommended watching is Dead Time: Kala.
